Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media?
“There are two sides to every story". Comics are no
exception. I feel that there is no question about whether these forms of
media are either child or adult entertainment. Comics seem to be
written in a way that appeal to people of all ages, with simple
adventure plots, humor, hidden puns and many different levels of
education within the text.
Tintin is a strong example of a comic which is loved by kids as well as adults. For children, a comic such as Tintin, is loved because of the adventurous stories and the vivid images. To an adult, reading a Tintin comic is like a way to escape back to childhood, to feel some excitement and adventure. To add to this, because Hergé would thoroughly research everything that was depicted in the comic, as well as using real life events (such as in the Blue Lotus Hergé depicts the invasion of Manchuria by Japan (Viram, 2007), adults reading the comic could feel like the comic was more realistic because of the high level of accuracy. Hergé has also stated that he purposely created a character to appeal across a large range of ages and that Tintin was aimed for “young people aged from seven to seventy seven” (Farr, 2001).
Tintin is a strong example of a comic which is loved by kids as well as adults. For children, a comic such as Tintin, is loved because of the adventurous stories and the vivid images. To an adult, reading a Tintin comic is like a way to escape back to childhood, to feel some excitement and adventure. To add to this, because Hergé would thoroughly research everything that was depicted in the comic, as well as using real life events (such as in the Blue Lotus Hergé depicts the invasion of Manchuria by Japan (Viram, 2007), adults reading the comic could feel like the comic was more realistic because of the high level of accuracy. Hergé has also stated that he purposely created a character to appeal across a large range of ages and that Tintin was aimed for “young people aged from seven to seventy seven” (Farr, 2001).
As
a quick side note, it’s not just comics where you see this multi-age
appeal. Popular genres like as animated movies such as Shrek, which
would typically be thought of as being aimed for children, are actually a
lot more that what they first seem. "Shrek was seized upon as a turning
point in that it had very definitely one kind of a text for kids and
definitely a subtext for adults” (Rohrer, 2009).
Maybe
this is the new way of making sure that kids and adults can enjoy the
same stuff and that parents and kids enjoy an interest together.
Personally I think that comics are for anyone who enjoys them, young or
old and because of the success of popular genre medias such as Tintin
comics, we are starting to see a major growth with many for ‘all-ages’
media starting to build up.
References
Farr, M. (2001). Introduction, Tintin: an imaginary hero in the real world. In M. Farr, Tintin: the complete companion (pp. 8-9). London: John Murray.
Rohrer, F. (2009, December 16). BBC News. Retrieved July 27, 2011, from How do you make children's films appeal to adults?: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8415003.stm
Viram. (2007, November 15). The Blue Lotus. Retrieved July 27, 2011, from Shvoong.com: http://www.shvoong.com/books/1706168-blue-lotus/
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